Page 89 of Cursed Crowns

“I could ask you the same thing,” said Rose as Shadow slipped out of Lei Fan’s room and brushed against her leg.

Lei Fan spread her arms wide and tilted her head back. “I want to soak up as much of the sun as I can,” she said. “I forgot how amazing it feels.” As if in agreement, Shadow rolled onto his back, mewling contentedly as he, too, basked in the morning sunlight. He was clearly unbothered by Elske, who for her part simply gave the cat a curious glance.

Rose watched the sunlight dance across Lei Fan’s face, the enormity of what had changed for the tempest and the rest of the kingdom sinking in all over again.

“I am glad you can feel the true sun again,” she said. “I am happy for you, and your cat, and your kingdom. And”—her voice caught, for just a moment—“and for Shen.” She cleared her throat. “But I have urgent matters to attend to back in Anadawn. Please thank your father for his hospitality. I really must be on my way.”

Lei Fan’s eyes widened. “You’re leaving? Now? But you just got here!”

Rose smiled tersely. “Duty calls.”

“But you haven’t even seen the city properly!” cried Lei Fan. “And tonight is the Festival of the Dancing Sun! You must stay for that, at least.”

“I’ve never heard of that festival...” said Rose, curious despite herself. “But I’m afraid it doesn’t matter. My country needs me.”

Lei Fan pulled a face. “Shen told me about that hideous Barron and his Arrows.”

Rose blinked in surprise.

“We’re close,” said Lei Fan. “Shen knows he can trust me.”

“Well, I’m afraid it’s the matter of those Arrows that I must return to, before my country is overrun with them,” said Rose candidly. “I thought I might find an ally in Shen, in this place, but his mind is on other matters.”

“He’s probably worried about tonight’s ceremony,” said Lei Fan knowingly. “Which is all the more reason for you to stay a little longer! It’s the most magical festival of the year. And now that we have our sky back, we canfinallycelebrate it. Please don’t leave on such a sour note,Queen Rose. I know my cousin would hate it.”

Rose fidgeted with the strap of her satchel. If she stayed a little longer, she and Shen might get a chance to speak again. As angry as she was, she knew yesterdayhadbeen overwhelming for Shen. They had both said things they didn’t mean. Perhaps today he would feel differently. Act more like the Shen she knew. And besides, itwasterribly rude to leave without saying goodbye.

“Stay for one more night,” pleaded Lei Fan. “You can leave tomorrow if you’re not too tired from all the dancing. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

Rose glanced down at her wrinkled dress. “Do you think you could lend me another gown?”

Lei Fan summoned a gust of wind, blasting her bedroom door wide open and startling Shadow, who let out an annoyed meow before darting away down the hallway. “Step into my emporium.”

Before Rose set aside her myriad worries, she sent a letter to Thea, assuring the Queensbreath that she would be home soon. And then another to Fathom, to inquire about the treaty Shen had mentioned last night. She knew it wouldn’t change anything between them, but as queen of Eana Rose owed it to her people and to the Sunkissed Kingdom to investigate it.

She spent the rest of the day with Lei Fan, trying on dresses and snacking on delicious food. She marveled at all the rooms inside the palace, including the Hall of Treasures, which contained everything from painted porcelain vases and huge silk tapestries woven with silver and gold to ornate furniture and bejeweled goblets. There was antique jewelry and ancient spell books, rubies the size of Rose’s fist and opalsof every color. In the kitchens, she discovered fifty herbs and spices she had never even heard of, and the library was teeming with beautiful books of art and poetry and literature, the reading chairs so exquisitely wrought she didn’t dare to perch on them.

“And this is the armory,” said Lei Fan, parting an entire wall of feathergrass in one of the lower courtyards to reveal a narrow wooden door.

Rose gasped as she stepped inside. Hundreds of axes and swords hung from the ceiling, their blades winking at her in the dimness. There were whips and staffs, too, body armor brushed in gold and silver and bronze, and an entire section for bows and steel-tipped arrows. On a table in the middle of the room, daggers were arranged according to size.

“I never knew weapons could be so beautiful,” said Rose as she traced the leather hilt of a double-edged sword.

“The blacksmiths of the Sunkissed Kingdom take great pride in their work,” said Lei Fan. “They believe that in battle, as in death, there must always be respect.” She plucked a diamond-encrusted dagger from the table, dangling it by its tip. “If you’re going to be stabbed in the heart, it might as well be with a sparkly blade, right?”

Rose was seized by the memory of Wren standing over her in the snow, bloodlust flashing in her eyes. She blinked it away. “I’ve never thought of it like that. Though I’d rather not be stabbed at all.”

Lei Fan unlocked a hidden drawer and removed two razor-sharp amber hairpins. “These are my favorite. They belonged to Shen’s mother, Queen Ai Li. She was a powerful tempest, but she knew how to fight, too. Gao trained her himself, and when they married, he gifted these to her.” She sighed as she set the pins down. “She didn’t think totake them to war. Though I’m not sure they would have made much of a difference.”

“She sounds very brave,” said Rose, her thoughts turning to Shen, who had clearly inherited his mother’s courage. Rose had never known him to shy away from a fight, had never expected that he ever would. It didn’t make any sense to her why he was doing sonow. What was the point in having an armory filled with the finest weapons in Eana if you weren’t willing to fight for your country? Your people?

“Rose?” Lei Fan waved her hand in front of Rose’s face. “Are you all right? You’ve gone very still.”

Rose shook off her frustration and smiled at Lei Fan. “Shall we go and get ready for the festival? You were right—I’m already glad I decided to stay for it.”

33

Wren

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